Nottingham News for W/E 11th February 2012 - with comments

4th February 2012: Nottingham Lottery winners "still claiming benefits" after £10 million jackpot win!Category: LotteryLink: This is Nottingham - Greedy Lottery WinnersMick and Jean O'Shea won the huge EuroMillions sum in 2005, but Mr O'Shea still receives £500 a month disability allowance because it is not means-tested, it was reported in a national newspaper.

The paper claimed that the former builder said: "I worked for 40 years and I'm entitled to it. I've been getting it since about 1996. "I declared the win to the authorities at the time, but it doesn't matter as it's not means-tested."

He said he has arthritis in his legs and rheumatoid arthritis in his hands and has recently had a hip operation.

According to the newspaper, Mrs O'Shea, 72, said of the allowance: "It's for his eyesight and arthritis. We're entitled to it."

Mr O'Shea, 73, also receives a new car every three years under the Government's Motability scheme for disabled drivers, it was reported.

"Don't you just love um!"

5th February 2012: Nottingham Forest owner Nigel Doughty has diedCategory: Sad Death - FootballLink: This is Nottingham - Nottingham Forest owner diesThe former chairman was discovered in the gym at his home in Skillington, Lincolnshire, yesterday morning. He was 54.

"Sad news for many"

7th February 2012: Tractor used in cash machine theftCategory: CrimeLink: This is Nottingham - ATM Stolen overnightThieves used a tractor to take a cash machine from the wall of the NatWest bank in Bingham overnight.

7th February 2012: Nottingham man jailed for death by dangerous drivingCategory: CrimeLink: This is Nottingham - Another killer on the roadJake Fretwell, of Edern Gardens, Top Valley, was driving a stolen silver Vauxhall Vectra when it crashed into hay bales on the B6011 Forest Lane, near Papplewick

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years, and also banned from driving for five years.

So for car theft, and murder with a deadly weapon (car), he gets 4½ years, does not seem much to me. Also, if is banned from driving for five years, does that start from now, or when he is released early from prison? He should not be allowed back on the road at all!

9th February 2012: Nottingham Court VerdictsCategory: CrimeLink: Nottingham Evening PostThomas Douglas Burton, 51, of Coppice Road, Arnold, admitted driving in a position which meant he didn't have proper control of the vehicle in Valley Road, Sherwood, on May 12 last year. He was fined £60, had three penalty points endorsed on to his driving licence, and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Robert Dean, 33, of Nottingham Road, New Basford, pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on April 14 last year. He was given a six-month conditional discharge. Dean also admitted to resisting arrest in Burton Street, Nottingham city centre, on April 2 last year. He was given a six-month conditional discharge and also ordered to pay £30 costs.

Stuart Divers, 36, of Nottingham Road, New Basford, has been jailed for a total of 120 days after pleading guilty to theft and assault charges. Divers admitted assaulting a man and stealing alcopops and crisps worth £7.62, from Tesco in Radford on January 20. The sentence was passed due to Divers' record of previous convictions within a short time of release.

A 20-YEAR-OLD woman denied being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control in Ransom Drive, St Ann's, on August 13. Sara Shirley, from Woodborough Road, St Ann's, was given unconditional bail until April 27.

Sakhgee Gul, 24, from Colwick Road, Sneinton, received a £525 fine for driving a Peugeot 206 without insurance in Canal Street, Nottingham, on March 2 last year. He was found guilty on January 23. He has to pay additional amounts of £150 toward the cost of the prosecution and a victim surcharge of £15. His licence will be endorsed with six penalty points. He was also found guilty of driving the Peugeot in Canal Street on the same date with a child, who was under the age of 14, in the front passenger seat without a seatbelt. No separate penalty was imposed.

Daniel Mark Clarke, 23, of Latham Street, Bulwell, had his case sent to Nottingham Crown Court to be heard on March 12. He is accused of assaulting a male in Aspley on May 4. He is on conditional bail.

Martin Dale, 52, of Ward Avenue, Mapperley, will be tried for allegedly stealing approximately £3,400-worth of property from Nottingham Trent University between May 13 and June 30, 2010. In November he denied taking a Toshiba laptop, Panasonic projector and Samsung monitor from York House, Mansfield Road. He was unconditionally bailed to appear on March 27 at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

Anthony Carroll, 68, of Highfield Road, Dunkirk, was fined £500 and banned from the roads for 12 months for drink-driving. He had been behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Zafira in University Boulevard, Dunkirk, when he was over the limit with 44 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms. He pleaded guilty on January 23. As well as the fine, he has to pay £85 towards court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

9th February 2012: Nottingham couple named as £45m EuroMillions lottery winnersCategory: LotteryLink: Nottingham Lottery WinnersA couple from Stapleford due to marry later this year have been revealed as winners of a £45m EuroMillions lottery jackpot. Cassey Carrington and Matt Topham, both 22, are the second couple from Nottinghamshire to win a EuroMillions jackpot in the last month.

Cassey said she has only played the lottery about half a dozen times and put the win down to it being "my lucky day".

"My lucky day? I should say so, well done!"

10th February 2012: Survey: Nottingham is the 2nd worst in the country for empty shops!Category: Nottingham EconomyLink: Evening Post - Empty shop surveyFunny isn't it that Nottingham always seems to be "second worst in any survey"?​Remember that hilarious Kirstie and Phil telly programme a few years back when we were the second worst place to live in Britain - behind poor old Hull?

Anyway, the new survey from the Local Data Company (no, not a clue) has revealed nearly a third of shops in Nottingham are now standing empty. That's 29.6 per cent of shops unoccupied, unloved, unopened. Only Stockport has a worse record.

"I know, and there are asking for £333,500 rent for the closed down Virgin store on Wheeler Gate!"

11th February 2012: Notts boy murdered woman with hammer and set body on fireCategory: Murder - CrimeLink: This is Nottingham - Another MurderThe boy killed a woman at her home in Notts by hitting her over the head with a hammer, before setting her body alight.He admitted the killing, but said it was not murder because he had lost self-control.

However, after eight hours of deliberation a jury at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday unanimously found him guilty of murder.

"The level of violence, the degree of planning and the extent of his lies is not only shocking, but it's also chilling that a boy could do this," said Detective Chief Inspector Kate Meynell. "I've never dealt with something like this and I'm not aware of any other case in this country."